Prospects for Federal Research Funding are Mixed - Feb 19, 2016

Coming into the new year, there were high hopes that Congress would be able to pass appropriations bills with ease, a return to “regular order.” The budget deal, the Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) reached in late 2015, set overall spending caps for the federal budget for Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017. The BBA lifted for two years the spending caps set in place through sequestration and provided enough funding for federal programs to enable passage of an omnibus spending bill for FY 2016. It also set the stage for moving the FY 2017 appropriations bills